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Gilbert, who threw four interceptions filling in for Colt McCoy in the loss to Alabama in the BCS title game, didn't turn the ball over in this one. Still, his day didn't go as smoothly as Longhorns fans had hoped.
Texas was stopped on fourth down at the 1-yard line on their first drive and settled for a 51-yard field goal on the second after another stalled drive. Gilbert bounced a few passes, but showed pinpoint accuracy on others, including a 47-yard throw to Malcolm Williams in the third quarter.
He finished 14 of 23 for 172 yards.
Texas finally got going on its first full drive of the second quarter taking a 10-3 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Newton. He ran up the middle and just out of reach of the outstretched arms of two Rice defenders for that score.
That drive was fueled by a 22-yard catch and run by Marquise Goodwin, a play where the Longhorns finally seemed to find a rhythm. The Longhorns gained just 53 yards in the first quarter, but piled up 69 on their first touchdown drive.
The defense got involved after Newton's first score, with Sam Acho sacking Rice quarterback Taylor McHargue and causing a fumble. Keenan Robinson scooped it up and returned it for a 10-yard touchdown and Texas had turned a 3-3 tie into a 17-3 lead in less than two minutes.
Newton, who finished with 61 yards also had a 2-yard score in the second quarter and a second 1-yard TD in the third.
Newton lost the starting job to Cody Johnson, but still got plenty of carries. The 250-pound Johnson had trouble early. The Longhorns had a first down at the Rice 4 in the first quarter. Johnson gained a yard on first down and two on second before being stuffed on third and losing four yards on fourth down.
Johnson had 15 carries for 59 yards.
Rice's first touchdown came on a fluke play. McHargue's pass bounced off the hands of Vance McDonald and right into the arms of Randy Kitchens. Kitchens had a step on Christian Scott, but Scott grabbed his leg and hung on as Kitchens dragged him to the goal line for the 47-yard score which made it 24-10 just before halftime.
Rice's Sam McGuffie had 14 carries for 47 yards in his Rice debut after sitting out for a year after transferring from Michigan. McHargue was 6 of 11 for 90 yards and an interception and Rice also used Nick Fanuzzi, who had 23 yards passing.
Texas opened away from home for the first time since 1995 at Hawaii. But this could hardly be called an away game with the overwhelming majority of the crowd of 70,445 at Reliant Stadium, home of the NFL's Houston Texans, clad in burnt orange and rooting for the Longhorns.
Texas kicker Justin Tucker made a 51-yard field goal early in the second quarter and one from 26 in the fourth, but missed field goals of 54 and 44 yards in the third quarter.
McCoy's younger brother Case McCoy took over at quarterback with about six minutes remaining. He attempted one pass.
The only turnover by the Longhorns came late in the fourth quarter when Aaron Williams fumbled a punt which was recovered by Rice at the Texas 20. The Owls took advantage of that mistake three plays later when Charles Ross scored on a 2-yard run.
